Sheffield sleep therapy startup secures nearly £500K in crowdfunding investment round

A Sheffield-headquartered sleep therapy start-up has raised over £475k in the first week of a crowdfunding campaign.

SleepCogni, a hand-held, sleep therapy solution for people suffering from insomnia, has so far attracted funds from 157 different investors which combines venture capital investment and crowdfunding.

Co-founded by entrepreneur Richard Mills, and Dutch chronobiologist and sleep expert, Dr Maan van de Werken, the device enables users to self-manage their insomnia.

The current crowdfunding investment round follows last month’s successful clinical trials at Sheffield Hallam University where SleepCogni produced ‘extraordinary’ results, significantly reducing clinical insomnia after just seven days.

Funds from the latest investment round, which includes investment from Chasnay Capital Investments, will go towards a software platform upgrade, recruitment of a new SleepCogni business development team, and beta testing of the device at four sites, two in the US and two in the UK.

SleepCogni is then set to roll out its device to 130 clinics, including of one of the largest sleep care management groups in the US.

Richard Mills co-founder and CEO, SleepCogni, said: “Our successful crowdfund campaign builds on the momentum of last month’s FDA registration and the completion of clinical trials where SleepCogni achieved extraordinary results reducing clinical insomnia in just seven days.”

Reinaldo Garcia from Chasnay Capital Investments added: “We’re excited by our investment into SleepCogni for many reasons: its patented technology and clinically validated solution addresses an unmet need in the global sleep aid market, and the company is backed by an excellent team.”